Here it is pre-oven

and post oven

and on the plate.

The blurb said (yes, I know, why do I take so much notice of what the blurb says?) that it didn’t need much in the way of accompaniment other than a light salad but I had been tempted to have it with a burger but took a trip to the tip while it was cooking and had it on its own when I got back. A burger or sausage would have gone nicely with it, although, at 719 calories per portion, maybe stick to the light salad they suggest.

Potato and leek boulangere (serves 4-6)
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 1 hour
Suitable for freezing
Calories per serving (4 portions): 719
kj 2996
Protein 18g
Fat: 51g (saturated fat 32g)
Carbohydrate: 50g

Ingredients
25g (1oz) butter
500g (1lb) leeks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
875g (1 3/4 lb) potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
4 tomatoes, sliced
300ml (1/2) pint double cream
300ml (1/2) pint milk
125g (4oz) smoked cheese, grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Use the butter to grease a large, deep 30 x 30cm (12″ x 12″) ovenproof dish. Put in half of the chopped leeks and garlic, cover with half of the slices of potato and season well.
2. Cover with a layer of the remaining leeks and garlic, then the remaining potato slices and season well again. Cover with the slices of tomato.
3. Mix the cream with the milk and pour over the top.
4. Cover with grated cheese and bake in a preheated oven, 180c, Gas Mark 4, for 1 hour or until the potatoes are cooked and the cheese well browned.

Related posts:

1. Potato and cabbage gratin Today’s veg box arrived containing a cabbage and potatoes. Luckily...
2. Oven-baked potato cakes with mushrooms and thyme I asked The Meat Eater to get me some potatoes...
3. Oven-baked courgette frittata I recently reinstated my veg box delivery but opting for...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

And it was, as The Meat Eater declared it ‘very yum’ and gave me permission to cook it again. Maybe I’ll give him permission to cook it himself.

Potato and cabbage gratin (serves 4)

Ingredients
675g new potatoes
Butter, for greasing
1 clove of garlic, crushed
290ml double cream
225g Savoy cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
55g Gruyere cheese, grated
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Cayenne pepper
Dry English mustard

(I swapped Leerdammer cheese for the Gruyere as Tesco didn’t have any vegetarian Gruyere and I omitted the Parmesan as Tesco didn’t have any veggie Parmesan-style cheese either. I also swapped the fresh marjoram for dried as Tesco didn’t have any fresh marjoram.

Maybe I should start shopping at Waitrose.)

Method

1. Wash the potatoes and cook them in boiling water until just tender. Drain and cut into halves or quarters depending on size.
2. Preheat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6. Grease an ovenproof dish with butter.
3. Stir the garlic into the cream and mix together with the potatoes, cabbage and marjoram. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon half the potato mixture into the base of the dish. Sprinkle the Gruyere cheese on top and cover with the remaining potato. Season the Parmesan cheese with a pinch each of cayenne and dry English mustard and sprinkle over the top.
5. Cover the dish with kitchen foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Related posts:

1. Potato and leek boulangere After not being mightily impressed with the meals so far...
2. Oven-baked potato cakes with mushrooms and thyme I asked The Meat Eater to get me some potatoes...
3. Pasta e fagioli A nice, chunky, warming dish made with potato, beans and...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

So he came back with new potatoes.  Sigh.  He asked what I was making and I said potato cakes with mushrooms and he said can’t he just have potatoes and mushrooms? and so I said no.

Still, we had some old-ish potatoes in the cupboard, so I cut off the sprouty bits and used them instead.

The recipe says it makes a substantial main course.  Which is rubbish.  I made it more substantial by serving it with sausages and something else now that I can’t remember.

Oven-baked potato cakes with mushrooms and thyme (taken from Leith’s Vegetarian Bible)
Serves 4

Oil, for brushing
450g/1lb floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper
55g/2oz butter
1 egg yolk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
Plain flour, for shaping
Chopped fresh flat-leafed parsley, to garnish

For the filling
450g/1lb mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
30g/1oz butter
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry sherry

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.  Brush a baking tray with oil.
2. Peel and quarter the potatoes and cook them in boiling salted water until tender.
3. Drain the potatoes and return to the pan.  Mash over a low heat.  Remove from the heat and add the butter and egg yolk.  Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and beat well.
4. Divide the mixture into 8.  With floured hands shape into flat cakes about 10cm/4in in diameter.  Place on the baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Turn, using a fish slicer, and bake for a further 15 minutes.
5. About 10 minutes before the potato cakes are ready, make the filling:  Cut the mushrooms into chunky pieces.  Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan.  Add the butter and when foaming, briskly fry the mushrooms until tender.  Add the garlic, thyme and lemon juice to taste and season with salt and pepper.  Fry for a further 2 minutes.  Add the sherry and bring to the boil, scraping any sediment from the base of the pan.
6. Lift 4 of the potato cakes on to 4 individual plates.  Divide the filling between them and top with a second potato cake.  Sprinkle with the parsley.

Related posts:

1. Oven-baked courgette frittata I recently reinstated my veg box delivery but opting for...
2. Potato and leek boulangere After not being mightily impressed with the meals so far...
3. Potato and cabbage gratin Today’s veg box arrived containing a cabbage and potatoes. Luckily...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Green garden veg pie 
Easy
Serves 4
Prep 15 mins
Cook 35 mins

Ingredients
50g butter
2 tsp mustard powder
600ml milk
200g mature cheddar, grated
2 large potatoes, sliced into rounds
1 head broccoli, cut into little florets
200g frozen peas
small bunch chives, snipped
50g flour
1 head cauliflower, cut into little florets

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour and mustard powder and cook for 1 min.  Gradually stir in the milk until smooth with no lumps, then keep stirring until the mixture begins to bubble and thickens to a creamy sauce.  Remove from the heat, then stir in all but a handful of the grated cheese.
2. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7 and bring a large pan of water to the boil.  Cook the potato slices for 5 mins, tip in the broccoli and cauliflower for another 3 mins, then finally add the peas for 1 more min.  Drain all the veg and pat dry.  Reserve enough potato slices to cover the top of the finished dish, then gently stir the rest of the vegetables into the sauce with the chives.
3. Tip into a deep ovenproof dish, arrange over the reserved potato slices, then sprinkle with remaining cheddar.  Bake for 20-25 mins until the topping is golden and crisp, the serve straight from the dish.

Cooking notes
I used soya milk, didn’t have a pan as big as a house so cooked the potatoes separate from the broccoli/cauliflower/peas and didn’t bother to pat them dry.

Related posts:

1. Potato and leek boulangere After not being mightily impressed with the meals so far...
2. Potato and cabbage gratin Today’s veg box arrived containing a cabbage and potatoes. Luckily...
3. Oven-baked potato cakes with mushrooms and thyme I asked The Meat Eater to get me some potatoes...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.